Part 18

"A very entertaining volume, evincing no ordinary powers of characterisation and description, caustic humour, and varied knowledge."--Scottish Press.

"This volume is one to which Mr Leighton may be proud to prefix his name as its author."--Northern Ensign.

"The 'Ten of Diamonds' is one of the most exciting tales ever written."--Morning Star.

"The wild weird interest of some of these stories is almost supernaturally intense."--Caledonian Mercury.

Price 3s. 6d., crown 8vo, cloth extra,

A SECOND VOLUME OF CURIOUS STORIED

TRADITIONS OF SCOTTISH LIFE.

BY ALEXANDER LEIGHTON.

Author of "The Court of Cacus," &c.

CONTENTS:--

The Amateur Robbery at Muttonhole. The Dowser of Arthur's Seat. The College Porter of St Andrews. The House in Bell's Wynd. The Cradle of Logie. The Bride of Bell's Tower. Swinton House and its Fairy. The Murder in the King's Park in 1715.

"We defy any one who loves a tale to sit down to one of these and not to be nailed to his chair till the 'charm's wound up.'"--Athenæum.

"To those who love good tales of terror and crime, the present volume will be delightful."--Spectator.

"The stories are told with great dramatic skill."--Westminster Review.

"This volume will be welcome to a very large circle of readers."--Glasgow Citizen.

"In this volume a great amount of ingenuity is employed, and an even greater amount of odd out-of-the-way reading is indicated.... The volume is curious and interesting."--The Scotsman.

"The Story of the 'House in Bell's Wynd' is almost tremendous in its gathering climax, the breathless terror evolved by the main leading feature not in any degree suffering from the quieter termination of the narrative. The other stories are of a startling order, and, for the fireside, with the muttering winds and the falling snows without, we do not know of a more fascinating volume."--Weekly Dispatch.

"Mr Leighton has a power of vivid description, and an art of interpolating mysterious thoughts and reflections, which makes him unrivalled in the recital of a tale of mystery or murder; and in certain portions, where the awful story arrives at its climax, he seems to revel in his description of the details."--Glasgow Herald.

"Mr Leighton is one of the best story-tellers of our time. He puts in his shadows so very deep and dark as sometimes to make the feeling of horror, although romantic, too intense to be agreeable; but he never fails strongly to interest one, which is the sure test of success in this sort of writing."--Dundee Advertiser.